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Copyright, Open Access, Fair Use & Public Domain

Public Domain Resources

Duke University Law School

Stanford University Libraries

Peter B. Hirtle, Cornell University Copyright Information Center

Creative Commons

A presentation prepared by Barbara Ingrassisa (2011)

A handbook for determining the copyright status of works created between 1/1/1923 and 12/31/1977.

Guide for determining the copyright status of a work.

 

Public Domain Defined

Public Domain

When a work is not covered by copyright (because the copyright term has expired, the creator has released the work, or the work was never copyrighted) it is in the public domain. A work that is in the public domain is a creative work that is not protected by copyright and which may be freely used by everyone.

 

The reasons that the work is not protected can include:

  • the term of copyright for the work has expired
  • the author failed to satisfy statutory formalities to extend the copyright
  • the work is a work of the U.S. Government

 

Works in the public domain may be used freely without the permission of the former copyright owner.

Is it in the Public Domain?

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